Publications by authors named "Sara Hall"

Non-invasive evaluation of glymphatic function has emerged as a crucial goal in neuroimaging, and diffusion tensor imaging along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) has emerged as a candidate method for this purpose. Reduced ALPS index has been suggested to indicate impaired glymphatic function. However, the potential impact of crossing fibres on the ALPS index has not been assessed, which was the aim of this cross-sectional study.

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Evidence from neuropathological cohorts indicates that a CSF α-synuclein (α-syn) seed amplification assay (SAA) may provide quantitative kinetic parameters correlating with α-syn pathology burden in patients with Lewy body disease (LBD). Studies are needed to assess their longitudinal trend during the pre-symptomatic and clinical disease phases and their correlation with measures of disease progression. We aimed to assess the baseline α-syn CSF SAA kinetic parameters, their longitudinal variations and associations with clinical outcomes in a cohort of longitudinally repeatedly sampled Lewy Body disease patients, including clinically unimpaired (asymptomatic LBD) and neurologically impaired individuals.

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Article Synopsis
  • There is a growing need for disease-specific fluid biomarkers in parkinsonian syndromes (PS), with corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) proposed as a potential biomarker for Lewy body disease.
  • The study measured CRH and misfolded α-synuclein (αSyn) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from different patient cohorts, including those with Lewy body disease, atypical PS, and non-parkinsonian neurodegenerative diseases.
  • The findings showed that CRH levels were significantly decreased in αSyn positive Lewy body disease and atypical PS compared to controls, indicating CRH's association with cognitive impairment and inflammation, suggesting that reduced CRH may be related to dop
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Article Synopsis
  • * A 10-week evidence-based yoga program was conducted with 20 participants, focusing on pain relief and quality of life improvements using educational and practice videos.
  • * Results showed significant improvements: nearly 60% of participants reported pain reduction, physical function improved, and average pain intensity decreased by 33%, indicating potential for yoga as a viable pain management tool.
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Background: Metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most common cause of chronic hepatitis in adult and pediatric patients. Adolescents with severe MASLD can demonstrate a more aggressive disease phenotype as they more commonly develop liver fibrosis than BMI matched adults. Therefore, MASLD is the fastest growing indication for liver transplants in young adults.

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Purpose: Although many integrative therapies exist, studies increasingly demonstrate yoga can help change the negative neuroplastic effects experienced by people living with chronic pain. Despite encouraging findings, a gap exists in accessible yoga programs designed to meet the individual needs of those experiencing limitations from chronic pain. This study evaluated a yoga program designed for people living with chronic pain delivered in a health care setting.

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Introduction: Differentiating Parkinson's disease (PD) from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a common clinical problem. We aimed to apply the T-/T-weighted ratio imaging technique, based on standard clinical MRI, to reveal differences in neurodegeneration in three large cohorts.

Methods: Three cohorts, with a total of 405 participants (269 PD, 44 PSP, 38 MSA, 54 controls), were combined and T/T-weighted ratio image analyses were carried out.

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A positron emission tomography (PET) tracer detecting α-synuclein pathology will improve the diagnosis, and ultimately the treatment of α-synuclein-related diseases. Here we show that the PET ligand, [F]ACI-12589, displays good in vitro affinity and specificity for pathological α-synuclein in tissues from patients with different α-synuclein-related disorders including Parkinson's disease (PD) and Multiple-System Atrophy (MSA) using autoradiography and radiobinding techniques. In the initial clinical evaluation we include 23 participants with α-synuclein related disorders, 11 with other neurodegenerative disorders and eight controls.

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The diagnosis of Parkinsonian disorders is currently based on clinical criteria, which have limited sensitivity until most dopaminergic neurons are lost. Here we show that cerebrospinal fluid levels of DOPA decarboxylase (DDC) (also known as aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase) can accurately identify patients with Lewy body disease (LBD) (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.89; P = 2.

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Article Synopsis
  • α-Synuclein aggregates, which are linked to Lewy body disease, were found in 8% of cognitively healthy individuals, with overlapping cases of Alzheimer's pathology observed in 13% of those with Lewy body positivity.
  • The study revealed that Lewy body pathology negatively impacted global cognition, memory, and attention/executive function, with cognitive decline being faster in individuals who had both Lewy body and Alzheimer's disease pathologies.
  • The research indicates that only those with Lewy body positivity progressed to clinical Lewy body disease over a decade, highlighting the need for tailored approaches in preclinical trials for both Lewy body and Alzheimer's diseases.
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There is poor knowledge about the clinical effects of Lewy body (LB) pathology in patients with cognitive impairment, especially when coexisting with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology (amyloid-β and tau). Using a seed amplification assay, we analyzed cerebrospinal fluid for misfolded LB-associated α-synuclein in 883 memory clinic patients with mild cognitive impairment or dementia from the BioFINDER study. Twenty-three percent had LB pathology, of which only 21% fulfilled clinical criteria of Parkinson's disease or dementia with Lewy bodies at baseline.

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Genetic analysis of intra-host viral populations provides unique insight into pre-emergent mutations that may contribute to the genotype of future variants. Clinical samples positive for SARS-CoV-2 collected in California during the first months of the pandemic were sequenced to define the dynamics of mutation emergence as the virus became established in the state. Deep sequencing of 90 nasopharyngeal samples showed that many mutations associated with the establishment of SARS-CoV-2 globally were present at varying frequencies in a majority of the samples, even those collected as the virus was first detected in the US.

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Introduction: The diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is often challenging since PSP may clinically resemble other neurodegenerative disorders. Recently, the tau PET tracer [F]RO948, a potential new biomarker for PSP, was developed. The aim of this study was to determine the ability of three different biomarkers, including [F]RO948 PET, to distinguish PSP patients from healthy controls and from patients with α-synucleinopathies.

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Currently, there is a need for diagnostic markers in Lewy body disorders (LBD). α-synuclein (αSyn) RT-QuIC has emerged as a promising assay to detect misfolded αSyn in clinically or neuropathologically established patients with various synucleinopathies. In this study, αSyn RT-QuIC was used to analyze lumbar CSF in a clinical cohort from the Swedish BioFINDER study and postmortem ventricular CSF in a neuropathological cohort from the Arizona Study of Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders/Brain and Body Donation Program (AZSAND/BBDP).

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People diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) can experience significant neuropsychiatric symptoms, including cognitive impairment and dementia, the neuroanatomical substrates of which are not fully characterised. Symptoms associated with cognitive impairment and dementia in PD may relate to direct structural changes to the corpus callosum via primary white matter pathology or as a secondary outcome due to the degeneration of cortical regions. Using magnetic resonance imaging, the corpus callosum can be investigated at the midsagittal plane, where it converges to a contiguous mass and is not intertwined with other tracts.

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Background: Neuroinflammation is implicated in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) and related conditions, yet prior clinical biomarker data report mixed findings.

Objectives: The aim was to measure a panel of neuroinflammatory acute phase response (APR) proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of participants with PD and related disorders.

Methods: Eleven APR proteins were measured in the CSF of 867 participants from the BioFINDER cohort who were healthy (612) or had a diagnosis of PD (155), multiple system atrophy (MSA) (26), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) (22), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) (23), or Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD) (29).

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Introduction: Monoaminergic activity modulates nociceptive transmission in the central nervous system (CNS). Although pain is the most disabling symptom of osteoarthritis (OA), limited knowledge exists regarding the CNS mechanisms that amplify pain and drive sensitization processes in humans.

Objectives: The main objective of this study was to evaluate associations between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) monoamine metabolites, pain severity, and central sensitization in patients with OA undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA).

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Subclinical or clinical inflammation often arises during ocular gene therapy with viral vectors. Understanding the biological bases and impacts on efficacy are important for clinical management and the improvement of future therapies.

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Article Synopsis
  • - This study investigates the brain mechanisms behind cognitive impairment and dementia in Parkinson's disease using structural and functional MRI techniques.
  • - It finds that cognitively unimpaired patients show increased connectivity in certain brain regions, while those with mild cognitive impairment have altered connectivity patterns, particularly related to the thalamus.
  • - The research suggests that dysfunction in specific brain circuits (like the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit) is linked to cognitive decline, with differences in brain structure observed in dementia patients compared to those without cognitive issues.
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Context.—: Helicobacter pylori-associated and autoimmune gastritis may coexist in a subset of patients who require treatment for both disorders.

Objective.

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Background: Alzheimer's disease co-pathology is common in dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease with dementia (Lewy body disease) and can reliably be detected with positron emission tomography (PET) or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers. Recently developed blood biomarkers are more accessible and less expensive alternatives.

Objective: To investigate if plasma phospho-tau217 and phospho-tau181 can detect Alzheimer's pathology in Lewy body disease with dementia.

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Neuroinflammation is implicated in the development and maintenance of persistent pain states, but there are limited data linking cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inflammatory mediators with neurophysiological pain processes in humans. In a prospective observational study, CSF inflammatory mediators were compared between patients with osteoarthritis (OA) who were undergoing total hip arthroplasty due to disabling pain symptoms (n = 52) and pain-free comparison controls (n = 30). In OA patients only, detailed clinical examination and quantitative sensory testing were completed.

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Objectives: Cholinergic dysfunction plays a prominent role in cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD). The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of baseline and longitudinal basal forebrain atrophy with cognitive decline and dementia in PD.

Methods: We included 106 non-demented PD patients, 19 PD dementia (PDD) patients and 42 controls with longitudinal structural MRI and cognitive testing.

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Background: CSF concentration of neurogranin has been suggested as a biomarker for synapse dysfunction.

Objectives: To investigate CSF neurogranin in parkinsonian disorders compared to controls and Alzheimer's disease and the possible correlations between neurogranin and cognitive and motor impairment.

Methods: We included 157 patients with PD, 29 with PD with dementia, 11 with dementia with Lewy bodies, 26 with MSA, 21 with PSP, 6 with corticobasal syndrome, 47 controls, and 124 with Alzheimer's disease.

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